Fecundity

Fecundity, derived from the word fecund, generally refers to the ability to reproduce. In demography, fecundity is the potential reproductive capacity of an individual or population. In biology, the definition is more equivalent to fertility, or the actual reproductive rate of an organism or population, measured by the number of gametes (eggs), seed set, or asexual propagules. This difference is because demography considers human fecundity which is often intentionally limited through contraception, while biology assumes that organisms do not limit fertility. Fecundity is under both genetic and environmental control, and is the major measure of fitness.

…, as well as the bad things. The history of mankind is the history of contagious ideas. Blackmore also enumerates three traits that determine the success of a meme: fidelity, fecundity and longevity. Fidelity is a measurement of how accurate each new copy of a meme is to it’s original version. On the web, with the ability to copy and paste links…